This invention relates to a new and improved golf ball retriever for retrieving golf balls from water hazards and other inaccessible places.
Golf is a game whose object is to sink a small round ball into each of the successive holes on a course by using as few strokes as possible and avoiding various obstacles. The course for the game is usually laid out over a relatively large land area having natural or man-made water hazards and sand hazards and other natural or man-made obstacles to test the playing skill of the golfer. Occasionally, even a highly skilled professional golfer will have his or her golf ball land in one of these places. Accordingly, it is desirable to have means for conveniently retrieving a golf ball from such places.
Conventional rakes have been used as means for retrieving golf balls. Also, rake heads specially constructed for attachment to a golf club shaft or a golf club head are known in the art. While a rake makes an excellent tool for searching for a ball, it is a rather awkward implement for retrieving a ball. The primary reason for the awkwardness of a rake is that it cannot be used to engage a golf ball and lift it out of a water hazard or similar inaccessible place.
Various devices for scooping or dipping a golf ball from a water hazard or other inaccessible place are known in the art. Both U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,214, issued Mar. 13, 1956 to Zimmers and U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,650, issued Feb. 28, 1967 to Zagwyn disclose devices for both raking a golf ball and scooping or dipping a golf ball. Each of these devices has a long handle with a plate-like structure attached to one end. The plate-like structure has a plurality of fingers attached thereto. With the Zimmers device, a golf ball can be retrieved by positioning the fingers behind the ball and pulling the handle forward to engage the ball. When the ball is engaged by the fingers, the handle is lifted to remove the ball from the water hazard or other inaccessible place. Unfortunately, the ball often drops from the fingers when the handle is lifted.
With the Zagwyn device, the golf ball is located in the water hazard or other inaccessible place by raking with the fingers in a spread apart configuration. When the ball is located, the fingers are closed and a hoop slightly larger in diameter than a golf ball is positioned adjacent to the fingers to form a retaining net or basket for scooping or dipping the ball from the water hazard or other inaccessible place. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for a golfer to retrieve the ball with such a net or basket. For example, if such a device is used in a water hazard having a soft muddy bottom, the mud from the bottom often fills the net or basket and prevents the golfer from scooping or dipping the ball from the hazard. Also, the golfer may have difficulty seeing his or her ball in a water hazard because of suspended materials in the water or refraction of light rays passing through the air-water interface, or both.
The golf ball retriever of the present invention overcomes these and many other disadvantages of the Zimmers device, the Zagwyn device and other known devices for retrieving golf balls. The golf ball retriever of the present invention consists essentially of an elongated handle having a flat plate attached to one end. The flat plate has a plurality of retrieving fingers pivotedly attached thereto. Preferably, the elongated handle is of the telescopic extension type or the folding type and the entire retriever is constructed from an aluminum alloy or another suitable lightweight material.
The geometrical shape of each of the retrieving fingers is essentially that of an unbarbed fish hook. Accordingly, the free end of each finger is curved rearwardly in the general direction of the elongated handle and has an uncurved outermost portion which rises from the horizontal toward the elongated handle. The uncurved outermost portion of each retrieving finger has a longitudinal dimension slightly greater than the diameter of a conventional golf ball.
The golf ball retriever of the present invention provides mechanical means for holding the retrieving fingers in either a spread-apart configuration or a closely-spaced configuration. When the retrieving fingers are held in a spread-apart configuration, the distance between the free ends of adjacent fingers is slightly less than the diameter of a conventional golf ball. Thus, when the retrieving fingers engage a golf ball, the ball will seat itself between two adjacent fingers. This tends to prevent lateral displacement of the golf ball. And, of course, the ball is thereby prevented from moving in a direction away from the elongated handle. Furthermore, the rise of the uncurved outermost portion of each finger from the horizontal is a deterrent to movement of the golf ball in a direction toward the elongated handle when the handle is lifted by the golfer. For these reasons, the golf ball seldom drops from the golf ball retriever of the present invention when the retriever is being used to retrieve the ball from a water hazard or other inaccessible place.
When using the golf ball retriever of the present invention, it is not necessary for the golfer to first locate his or her ball by raking and then to retrieve the ball from the water hazard or other inaccessible place by scooping or dipping. The golfer simply pulls the golf ball retriever through the general area within which he believes his ball to be located. When the uncurved outermost portions of the retrieving fingers are drawn under the golf ball, the ball will seat itself between two adjacent fingers in the manner described above. Then, the golfer can lift the elongated handle to retrieve his or her ball. With the golf ball retriever of the present invention, the golfer can retrieve his or her ball from water hazards having muddy, sandy or hard bottoms.
These and many other advantages, features and objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following brief description of drawings, detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims.